There is something unconvincing in the support being demonstrated by those backing a £2 billion scheme to build an 870-acre “entertainment destination” on the Thames Estuary near Bluewater.

Landowner Lafarge, builder Brookfield Construction and property company Development Securities are named parties to the project being promoted as a rival to Disneyland Paris. But none seem to want to come out this week and say, “wow, yes, we’re fully committed.”

Instead the trio have stood in the shadows, leaving a little-known 44-year-old theme park expert, Tony Sefton, to tell the world of plans to create 27,000 jobs on the scrubby Swanscombe peninsula in a Paramount-branded park, complete with water slides and roller coaster. DevSecs has a small stake in the joint-venture company set up to take forward the scheme. But Brookfield and Lafarge are not on the shareholders’ list of a project due to open in 2018.

A technicality? Maybe. But it feels more like a fear of looking foolish if the project pancakes, as theme parks often tend to do. Sefton says “several million” has been spent over 18 months bringing the project to a point when the curtains can be drawn back.

Indeed. The stage looks well set. The local councils seem happy. Lafarge seems happy. Brookfield is a top builder. DevSecs is a top property company.

But what about the £2 billion cost of construction?

“Have we got it now? No,” says Sefton, who designed his first piece of play equipment at the age of six. “Will we get it — certainly, yes!”